At Aurora BayCare Medical Center, the future of healthcare is being shaped by the hands of young innovators. In partnership with the YWCA, the TechGYRLS STEAM event welcomed girls from third to eighth grade to explore careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.
Led by Dr. Elizabeth Dickson Michelson, a gynecologic oncologist at Aurora BayCare, the event offered hands-on experiences—from making splints to testing laparoscopic tools—designed to show how classroom learning translates into real-world healthcare applications.
One participant, Farrah, shared how her experience managing diabetes helped her connect with the tools and techniques used in patient care. Her mother, Mercedes Kocken, an Aurora BayCare employee, emphasized the program’s empowering message: “There’s nothing that can stop them from doing anything and everything they want to do.”
TechGYRLS is more than an event—it’s a movement to close the gender gap in STEAM fields and inspire young women to pursue their passions fearlessly.